Mine
by Oncer15
Summary: Follow Eric and Monica on some of their journey through their relationship in Dauntless! One-Shot. Sequel to The Hybrid.


**Hello all! I'm very sorry for the delay but, as you all know, I've been very busy lately. Thank you all for being so patient, I really appreciate it. Just a few things before we kick off this one-shot :) First, this is a sequel to my other story The Hybrid, so I would advise you to read that before this. Not reading that story beforehand will make some of the things in here not make sense. Second, this is loosely based on the song "Mine" by Taylor Swift. Third, this was originally going to be a pure fluff piece, but then I decided to throw a little conflict in (sorry, not sorry) but rest assured, there will be conflict resolution and plenty of romantic beautifulness. I took great pleasure in making Eric the most precious cinnamon roll anyone has ever seen. Fourth, this is in Monica's point of view, for the most part, as always. And fifth, there are pretty big time jumps in this, so I'm not writing the events of every day of their lives, even though that would be amazing :)**

 **I have also placed a very important announcement regarding the future of Eric and Monica's story at the very end, so please make sure to give that a read as well.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the song "Mine" by Taylor Swift. I also do not own the Divergent books, movies, or anything else that is canon (which none of this is, but you all get the point). :)**

It's been one month since I officially became a member of Dauntless, and I couldn't be happier. Surprisingly, I am having the time of my life training with Tris and Christina to become qualified to train the initiates every year. The only downside is that Peter is training, which also means, at some point, teaching with us, but he seems to have calmed down a little over his ranking. I think he's starting to realize that there's nothing he can do about it at this point. Sometimes he can actually be kind of fun to be around, but we're still all wary of him because of what happened during initiation.

I've also seen my dad a few times since he's gotten back from the wall. Our relationship has been a slow build, but he is nothing like what I feared him to be and is everything I've always hoped he would be.

On top of all that, in a few days I will be starting my leadership training with the best boyfriend ever. Despite what his attitude during initiation would make you think, once you get to know him on a more personal level, he is incredibly sweet. And a great cook. As a matter of fact, I'm going to his apartment for dinner tonight. For the last month, that has been our regular date night. He's just as turned-off by the crazy Dauntless night life as I am.

When I get to his door, I walk right in without bothering to knock. The fourth or fifth time I came over for dinner, he told me I don't need to knock, that he knows it's me since he's never usually expecting any company.

When I open the door, I am hit with the fantastic smell of chicken parmesan. Eric seems to be engrossed with whatever he's doing, but stops and walks over to me when he hears me walk in. When he reaches me, he pulls me into a bear hug. I am engulfed in his sweet smelling cologne and large muscular arms, something that has quickly become one of my favorite things. He gives me a quick, but sweet peck on the forehead before pulling back and planting a gentle kiss on my lips. After a few moments, he pulls back completely and smiles down at me fondly.

"How are you, beautiful?"

"Good, how are you?"

"Excellent. I hope you're hungry. I'm making salad, pasta, chicken parm, and chocolate cake."

"You do realize you're only cooking for two people, right?"

"Well, I have to make sure my favorite girl doesn't go hungry."

"Oh, why thank you sir." This flirty banter between the two of us is something I have come to love immensely. While we eat, we talk about various things, our days and interesting things going on in the compound. It isn't until we get to dessert, which is so much better than the public Dauntless chocolate cake, that we talk about something particularly important.

"So, with your leadership training coming up, we need to talk about your living arrangements."

"What about them?" For the past month, I've been sharing an apartment with Tris and Christina. Sharing a small apartment with two other people gets a little crowded sometimes, but it's not nearly as bad as the initiation dorm room. Whenever my living space has come up, I could tell that Eric seemed to be bothered by it, but he's never really said anything until now.

"Even though you're not officially a leader yet, you really should be in an apartment reserved for leaders. Which is why I would like you to move in with me." I stare at him, stunned for a moment before I look down at my plate, unable to suppress the dorky grin that forms on my face. I look back up at him after a moment and the look that is on my face is also on his. I'm about to say something cute, but I realize something that stops me in my tracks.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but wouldn't I normally move into one of the vacant leadership apartments?" He doesn't seem to be upset by my question. His inner Erudite probably welcomes the curiosity.

"Normally, you would. But there was an oversight in the renovations we made a year ago. We usually anticipate one to two leadership trainees a year, but somehow not enough apartments were built, so there are none vacant at the moment. So unless you want to wait a few months for a bigger apartment, you'll have to move in with me." What started as a wonderful prospect now makes me want to leave. And the blissful mood I have had all evening has suddenly become very sour. The way he says it makes it sound like the lack of other apartments is the only reason I would have to be here.

"Well, if moving in here would just be out of convenience, I think I'd rather stay with Tris and Christina." I get out of my chair and head for the front door, but he gets out of his and quickly steps in front of me to prevent me from leaving. He takes my face in his hands and forces me to look at him. I fear the angry look that I know will be there, but what I see in his eyes is a look of gentle, loving concern.

"Hey, that's not what I meant. Yes, it would be convenient for you to move in here instead of waiting, but that's not the only reason. I _want_ you to move in with me. I love having you here. This place feels more like a home when you're here."

"It does?" I ask as some tears start to slip out of my eyes.

"Of course it does. I love you." This isn't the first time I've heard him say it, but this is the first time he's said it in real life. After he says it, he watches me carefully, knowing what my fear is. I wait for the fear to rise inside of me, but it never does. And that is when I realize that it never will. Over the past month, I think I've let Eric in more than I realized. And now that he has finally said the words, it has dawned on me that I have grown, not to fear those three words, but to fear that he would never actually say them. That they are words that I don't deserve to hear. But now that they have been spoken out loud, any fear that could have possibly come in this situation is completely erased from existence. I take one last look into his eyes, noting that he is not just saying this to make me feel better, that he really means it, before pulling him in for a kiss.

He responds immediately and we stand clinging to each other, basking in our passionate embrace, until we are forced to pull away for air.

"I love you too. And I'm sorry. I didn't mean to react the way I did," I tell him, still extremely breathless.

"It's okay. I didn't say what I really meant. But, I did mean one thing: Will you move in with me?"

"I would love to."

 **Time Jump**

It has been two months since I moved in with Eric and things are starting to get a little tense. Eric has been getting a little short-tempered with me lately and I don't understand why. I've been making great progress in my leadership training, so it couldn't be that. My first thought was that I did something wrong to upset him, but I can't think of what. Up until a week ago, everything was going fine. And now I'm getting frustrated with him because there is no explanation for his attitude and he won't talk to me about whatever is bothering him. To make everything worse, it is two in the morning and he _just_ walked in the door _and_ he's tipsy. I know he's not drunk because I've seen him drunk and this isn't even close to that, but still. I try to keep my temper some-what under control as I go to demand what better be a _very good_ explanation as to why he's home so late.

"Where have you been?"

"What do you care?" Did he really just say that?

"What do you mean 'What do I care'? It's two in the morning Eric! And you've been drinking! I was worried something bad happened to you."

He just shakes his head impassively before storming past me and saying, "I don't have time for this, I'm going to bed." Before he can get too far, I turn on my heel and push him into the wall.

"No, you're not going to walk away from me. We're going to talk. You've been avoiding having a conversation with me about whatever it is that's bothering you and I'm sick of it. We're going to talk whether you like it or not."

"I don't want to talk to you right now."

"Oh, well that's convenient because you haven't wanted to talk to me all week."

"You know what? You need to leave."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. Get your shit and get out of my apartment." I feel my heart plummet into my stomach and a stinging begin in my eyes.

"I'm sorry, _your_ apartment? I thought it was _our home_."

"Well, you thought wrong, now get out."

"Wow, okay." I make my way towards the front door, not even bothering to get any of my things because I just don't want to be here right now. I fight to keep my tears at bay as I turn back to face him. "Just so you know, all those times I told you I love you, I take it back. I _hate_ you!" I yell before I slam the door and run to anywhere but here as fast as my legs can carry me.

 **Eric's POV**

 _I hate you!_ Those three words are enough to instantly sober me up. What the hell did I just do? Before I can comprehend what I am doing, I am running out the door up to the control room. I've just let my work frustration possibly ruin the best thing that's ever happened to me. I _have_ to fix this.

I throw open the door to the control room and stomp over to Four, who looks at me as if he's been expecting me.

"What's wrong?"

"Don't worry about it. Where's Monica?" I know she ran out, but I have no idea where she went. I'm desperate to fix this, but I have to find her first. Four alternates between scanning the surveillance footage and giving me sympathetic glances, which makes me want to punch him in the face even more than I already do. None of this is his fault, but he's taking too long. I don't need his sympathy.

"Here she is." I look at the monitor he's pointing to, and my heart sinks. She's sitting on the edge of the chasm, legs hanging off the bridge and sobbing into her hands. Before Four can say anything else, I run out of the room and bolt towards the chasm. She doesn't look like she's going to jump, but that's a chance I just can't risk.

When I arrive at the chasm, I start to hate myself a little bit more. She looks even more broken than she did on the monitor. I approach her with caution and when she feels my presence and looks up at me, her reaction is far from what I thought it would be. I expect her to start backing away or get up and yell at me, but when she sees me, she just sits there and breaks down into a whole new round of sobs. I kneel down next to her and wrap her up into my arms while she cries. Instead of pushing me away, she holds my shirt in a vice grip, refusing to let me go. Not that I want her to.

Once she finally starts to calm down, she steals a glance at me, looking as if she wants to say something, but I don't give her the chance. I have to get this out. I know exactly what she wants to hear. "I'm so sorry. I've just been so stressed lately. Max has been working me extra hard lately with training you, making sure my training is up-to-date, and now we're starting to change all the rules again and I've had to deal with that. With having to balance a new relationship on top of all that, I just have a lot on my plate right now."

At some point during my explanation, I turned my gaze away and as I go to look back at her, I fear what I will see. But when I look into her eyes, all my fears melt away. She looks at me, not with a look of hate or disgust, but with love and understanding. I let out a breath that I didn't know I was holding when she reaches up and tenderly touches my face.

"Eric, why didn't you just talk to me?"

"I didn't want to burden you with my problems." Saying it out loud, and seeing the look of disbelief on her face, confirms that my reasoning is as stupid as I thought it was.

"Eric, you could never burden me. Don't ever think that if something's wrong you can't come talk to me. You can trust me with anything. That's what I'm here for." I breathe out a large sigh of relief and hold her a little tighter in my arms.

"I'm sorry, you're right. I know that I can trust you. I guess I just lost sight of that for a moment. And I didn't mean anything I said before. I don't want you to leave."

"I'm sorry too. I don't hate you."

"I know you don't. Let's go home." She gives me a small smile before wrapping her arms tightly around my neck as I stand up and carry her back _our home_.

 **Monica's POV, 9 Months Later**

Tonight is the celebration for the new members of Dauntless and I couldn't be more proud. As a junior leader, it is wonderful seeing so much potential for our future in one room, but knowing that I helped train some of them makes it all the more special. Eric, Peter, and I trained the Dauntless borns and Four, Tris, and Christina trained the transfers. I was not very happy when I found out I would be working with Peter, but Eric assured me that everything would be fine, and of course, he was right. There were a few mishaps during training, mostly involving me preventing Eric and Peter from pushing the kids too hard and killing them, but overall, everything went fairly smoothly.

Eric and I share a knowing look when Max reveals the rankings of the new members and the top three, not to mention six of the ten names on the list, are our trainees. Only four kids from Four's class passed. It's not all that surprising since there isn't usually a high success rate with transfers, my class being the exception. I notice that Eric gives Four a smug look and it makes me smirk. I know that he and Four made a bet on who is the better trainer, not that he would ever admit that to me, and not that he has to. I know him all too well by now.

During the party, Eric and I wander around, congratulating the new members and mingling with everyone else. At some point during the evening, Eric tells me he needs to talk to me, before pulling me away from our friends to the side of the Pit.

"What's going on?"

"I need to ask you something."

"Okay." He takes a deep breath before continuing.

"Monica, you know I love you right?" I'm starting to not like the sound of this.

"Of course, I love you too. Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine. Listen… The moment I saw you on the roof a year ago, I knew that you were special. And that you were going to be special to me. I don't know what I did to deserve such a strong, beautiful, amazing woman, but whatever it was, I'm glad that I have you. And nothing would make me happier than to be able to say that for the rest of my life, so…" He pauses while he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small box. When he opens the box, I see the most beautiful black diamond ring I've ever seen. He takes my left hand into his and says, "Will you marry me?"

For a moment, I am frozen for shock. Part of me thinks that he's kidding, but when I look into his eyes, I see a nervous, but hopeful gleam. When I realize that this is actually happening, a huge grin spreads across my face before I jump into his arms, causing him to stumble backwards.

"Yes! Of course I will!" My smile is briefly mirrored back on his face before he pulls me in for a kiss. While we kiss, I am vaguely aware of the claps and cheers that are beginning to surround us. When I feel him slip the ring on my finger, I think that life could not possibly get better than this.

 **1 Year Later**

Today is the day. My wedding day. I am standing at the alter across from my one true love. It has been a long road to get here, but every step of the way was worth it. I know I should be paying attention to Max's final speech, but now that we have said our vows, I can't help but stare longingly into Eric's deep blue eyes and hope Max will be done talking soon. When I joined Dauntless, if you had told me that two years later, I would be marrying one of my instructors, I would have told you that you were crazy. But now that I'm actually here, I can't imagine myself anywhere else.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife. Eric, you may kiss your bride". Max barely got that last word out when Eric gently grabbed my face and pulled me into a searing kiss. When we finally pull away from each other, I look out into the audience and see all of our friends, many of whom I consider my family, who all look extremely happy and proud. I look back to Eric with tears of joy in my eyes, wondering what our next big achievement will be.

 **10 Months Later**

I am walking to Eric's office with a bag in one hand and a manila folder in the other, feeling more nervous than I have been in a while. Today is Eric's birthday and, since I received a practically unheard of day off from work today, I decided to spend the morning making him his favorite meal, a pulled pork sandwich with potato salad, to bring him for lunch. Members of the leadership department rarely ever get days off, but Eric talked to Max and they both insisted on it, since I haven't been feeling well lately.

When I get to his door, I take a deep breath, tuck the folder under my arm, and then knock. After a few seconds, he calls for me to come in. When I open the door, I see that he looks very bored, probably from all the paper work we have to do on a daily basis, but he immediately perks up when he sees me.

"Hey! What are you doing here?" When I reach his desk, I set my things down on it as he pulls me onto his lap for a kiss.

"Well, since it's your birthday, I thought I would bring you lunch." He digs into the bag to see what I brought and his face instantly lights up when he sees what I did for him. He pulls me into his side for a hug and says, "Thank you honey, you're the best." He is just about to dig in when he remembers something that makes him stop.

"What's in the folder? It's not work related is it? You're supposed to be relaxing today." His concern for me puts a small smile on my face as I reach for the folder to hand to him.

"No, it's not work. It's your birthday present."

"You put it in a folder?" A small, nervous giggle escapes my mouth at his confusion. I motion for him to open it as I steal some of his potato salad. I didn't originally plan on this being his present. In fact, I had something completely different set up, but when this came along, I decided that this would be the perfect gift. I'm a little nervous at what his reaction will be, not because I think he won't be happy with it, but because it's a bit unexpected, even to me.

I hold my breath as I watch him open the folder and look down at its contents. When he sees what it contains, his eyes widen and he just stares down at them before turning to look at me as a smile forms on his face.

"You're pregnant?" I barely have time to nod my head in conformation before my blood test results and sonogram photograph fall to the floor as he stands us both up and pulls me into a hug. I feel as though I should say something, but I decide against it, for there are no words needed in this moment. I lose track of time as we remain standing in front of his desk in our embrace, holding onto this rare quiet moment in Dauntless, relishing in the newfound knowledge that we are going to be parents.

 **Eric's POV, 9 Months Later**

She's been in labor for almost 16 hours and she is finally starting to push. Oddly enough, the baby has waited until the estimated due date to be born. I shouldn't be surprised though because only my child could be that punctual. As I hold her hand and whisper words of encouragement in her ear, I can't help but think about the last three and a half years of my life. If you told me back then that I would soon be falling in love, getting married, and having child with the most beautiful woman in the city, I would have told you that you were crazy. But now, I cannot imagine myself anywhere else. I'm not sure when the exact moment I fell in love with her was, as it was a gradual process for the both of us, but if I'm being honest, the moment I saw her on the roof on Choosing Day, I was instantly drawn to her. In the days that followed, with her constantly standing up to me and excelling at every task we threw at her, I started to realize that I was in trouble. It had been many years since I started closing myself off and putting up a tough exterior to keep people out, but at some point I realized that she would be the one to break down those walls and, as always, she didn't let me down. After many ups and downs, we find ourselves about to welcome a child to our small family. The idea of being a parent scares me to death, but it is also something that I am also very excited for.

My mind returns to the present as Monica lays back in relief after delivering the final push and our child. I begin to tear-up for what seems like the hundredth time that day when the doctor announces that we have a baby girl. We wanted to wait to find out the sex of the baby, but I think we were both secretly hoping for a girl.

Monica and I were both worried that waiting to learn the sex would make it more difficult to pick out a name, but looking down at the now cleaned and swaddled baby in her arms, I can only think of one name that fits.

"Ella." Monica, who was gently stroking the baby's cheek, looks up at me in confusion.

"What?"

"Ella. That's her name. She looks like an Ella." Monica stares at the wall while considering it before looking back at me and then the baby with a smile on her face.

"Ella. I like that name. I think it's perfect." With that settled, I lean over the bed, looking down at my perfect family, excited to see where life will take my daughter.

 **Author's Note:**

 **I really hope you all enjoyed this and that it was worth the wait. To be honest, I had most of this written months ago but I had a major case of writer's block at the wedding scene. Every time I sat down to write it, I just couldn't figure out what I wanted to say. That is why that is a very short section. I'm sorry if it isn't that great and if the story started to go a little too fast near the end.**

 **As I've mentioned before, I am also planning to write a full-length sequel to this story. I've gone back and forth with myself on this and I have decided to take a break from this story, and** ** _Divergent_** **all together, and work on a different fanfic. I have a word document of story ideas and descriptions that is, no kidding, eleven and a half pages long and two of the stories on that list won't get out of my head. If anyone is interested, I'm pretty sure that my next project will be a** ** _Me Before You_** **twist on Batman/Young Justice and then the story I'll do after that is a Justice League/Hunger Games crossover. Those are my two most recent ideas and I keep daydreaming about them; they won't get out of my head! But, worry not, I do have the sequel to The Hybrid written down and it is on my radar. I will get to it at some point, I'm just not sure when. But, whenever I do get to it, I will, of course, post an update on this and The Hybrid to let you all know when the first chapter is posted.**

 **Thank you all for reading; I appreciate every single one of you! I never imagined anything I write would get the kind of response and interest that this has gotten. Thanks again for being such wonderful readers and I hope to see some of you again during my next project!**


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